OAKLAND, Calif. — Boston's trade for Matt Thornton was an early development in a market that's not exactly moving fast.

"Trying to fortify the group we have here as best as possible, if it made sense," Sox manager John Farrell said Saturday. "Thornton was a guy we were able to acquire to fill at least one of those needs. Additional needs or additional changes that might take place remain to be seen. I know Ben (Cherington) is trying to find every way possible to help this team."

A baseball source confirmed Saturday that the Red Sox will monitor Matt Garza just as they will investigate all trade possibilities. Starting pitching, relief pitching and the left side of the infield all remain areas the Red Sox will explore, but the trading scene has been slow to develop. A number of relievers are available, for example, but few have been moved.

Thornton's acquisition doesn't mean the Sox are set in their bullpen — relief-pitching depth is valuable.

Clay Buchholz's injury situation doesn't appear to have the Red Sox panicking — however, Red Sox manager John Farrell said Friday that Buchholz's absence is "a gaping hole," and "the biggest key for us in the second half."

As has been noted before, the Red Sox are comfortable with their infield depth as is once Stephen Drew returns. That doesn't mean they won't keep their eyes open.

There's still two weeks to go before the deadline, and clubs that right now may not be sellers could become sellers, and there's a lot of market left to develop all-around. The Red Sox know that.

Multiple reports on Saturday centered on the trade market for Garza, who went 6 2/3 innings in potentially his last start for Chicago. Garza allowed 10 hits to the Cardinals but just two runs, striking out four and walking two as he improved to 6-1 on the season in a 6-4 Chicago win.

"He's handled it great," Cubs manager Dale Sveum told reporters about Garza and the speculation. "Obviously, he went through this last year at the same time when his name was all around. It goes unsaid how he's handled it. He's pitched in as good a five-game stretch as he has in his whole career. He's obviously handled it extremely well."

ESPN's Buster Olney reported the Cubs were making progress with at least two unnamed teams, and that a deal that over the all-star break appeared likely.

FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal also said Garza could well be moved before his next scheduled start, and named the Dodgers, Nationals, Red Sox and Rangers as teams in the mix, allowing for the possibility other teams were involved as well.